Michael looked at Lily’s picture.

“I know.””

The room was silent.

Then my mother spoke.

“There’s something else.””

I turned.

“Of course there is.””

She flinched.

And immediately, I regretted the cruelty.

But pain had a way of making knives out of words.

“What else?””

She took a deep breath.

“Lily wasn’t taken because of Bellamy.””

I frowned.

“Then why?””

My mother looked at me.

“Because Victoria wanted something you had.””

“What?””

“Your name.””

I stared.

“My name?””

She nodded.

“Victoria couldn’t inherit certain family assets because of legal restrictions. But Lily…”

She stopped.

I understood before she finished.

“No.””

“She was your daughter.””

My stomach turned.

“She was your heir.””

The room became unbearably quiet.

All these years.

I thought someone stole my daughter because of revenge.

Because of business.

Because of power.

But the truth was worse.

They stole her because she was valuable.

A child had become a piece on a chessboard.

My child.

I stood.

“Where is Daniel?””

Michael looked at me.

“Simone.””

“Where is he?””

“He won’t tell you anything.””

I grabbed my coat.

“Then he can lie to my face.””

Michael stood.

“I’m coming with you.””

“No.””

He stopped.

“I need to do this alone.””

His expression changed.

“Simone.””

I looked at him.

“I spent fifteen years alone.””

The words hurt both of us.

“I can handle one more night.””

I drove straight to Daniel’s house.

The entire way there, I kept seeing Lily’s face.

Her laugh.

Her tiny hands.

The way she used to call strawberries “red hearts.””

Memories I thought belonged to grief now belonged to anger.

When Daniel opened the door, he looked surprised.

Then afraid.

That was the first honest emotion I had seen from him.

“Simone.””

I stepped inside without permission.

“We need to talk.””

He closed the door slowly.

“I heard.””

“About what?””

He didn’t answer.

That told me everything.

“You knew I would find out eventually.””

Daniel looked exhausted.

“I was trying to stop this.””

“Stop what?””

“The truth.””

I stared at him.

“You helped them steal my daughter.””

His face collapsed.

“I never wanted that.””

“You signed the papers.””

“I was forced.””

“You always say that.””

My voice rose.

“You were forced to betray me. Forced to lie. Forced to let me mourn a child who was alive.””

Tears filled his eyes.

“I made a mistake.””

“No.””

I stepped closer.

“A mistake is forgetting an appointment.””

My voice shook.

“This was a choice.””

Daniel looked away.

“Victoria had evidence.””

“Of what?””

He didn’t answer.

“Daniel.””

He whispered:

“Of what happened the night Lily disappeared.””

I froze.

“What does that mean?””

He looked terrified.

“Simone, there’s a reason Victoria has always been one step ahead.””

“Why?””

His voice dropped.

“Because she didn’t just know about Lily.””

I waited.

“She was there.””

My heart stopped.

“She was there?””

Daniel nodded.

“And she wasn’t alone.””

A strange feeling moved through me.

“Who else?””

Daniel looked toward the window.

Then back at me.

“The person who gave Victoria information about you.””

I whispered:

“Who?””

His answer barely came out.

“Your husband.””

I stepped back.

“No.””

Daniel looked at me with tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.””

My phone buzzed.

A message.

Unknown number.

One photo.

I opened it.

My breath disappeared.

A picture of a young girl.

Around twenty years old.

Standing outside a building.

A familiar smile.

Familiar eyes.

Below the picture was one sentence.

*You spent fifteen years mourning your daughter.*

Another message appeared.

*But she has been alive this entire time.*

I couldn’t move.

Then the final message arrived.

*Meet your daughter tomorrow.*

*If you want her to survive.*

Chapter 7: The Girl In The Photograph

I stared at the photograph until my eyes burned.

Twenty years of building Bellamy House.

Fifteen years of surviving grief.

Countless nights convincing myself that pain had a beginning and an end.

And now, in a single message, everything I believed about my life had collapsed.

The girl in the picture looked familiar.

Not because I had seen her face before.

Because I had imagined her face a thousand times.

Every birthday.

Every Christmas.

Every quiet moment when I wondered what Lily would have looked like if she had grown up.

Would she have my smile?

Michael’s stubbornness?

My mother’s patience?

Would she hate me for not finding her?

The thought hurt more than anything else.

I looked at Daniel.

“Who sent this?””

He didn’t answer.

That was becoming his favorite response.

Silence.

A shield for cowards.

“Daniel.””

His face was pale.

“I don’t know.””

I laughed.

A cold, empty sound.

“You expect me to believe that?””

“I’m telling the truth.””

“The truth?””

I held up my phone.

“Do you know how long I have waited for this?””

His eyes dropped.

“Simone…”

“No.””

My voice cracked.

“You don’t get to comfort me.””

He looked away.

“I know.””

“You don’t know anything.””

The anger that had lived inside me for fifteen years finally had a place to go.

“You knew my daughter was alive.””

“I suspected.””

“Suspected?””

I stepped closer.

“You signed documents giving her away.””

His face twisted with pain.

“I was trying to keep her alive.””

“By giving her to the woman who stole her?””

“I didn’t know what Victoria would do.””

“Then why did you trust her?””

Daniel closed his eyes.

And that was when I saw it.

Regret.

Real regret.

Not the kind people show when they are caught.

The kind people show when they finally realize there is no way to undo what they have done.

“I was twenty-eight,” he whispered.

I froze.

“What?””

“I thought I could control it.””

His voice became quieter.

“Victoria came to me after the accident. She told me she could protect Lily.””

“Protect her?””

“She said if people found out Lily survived, there would be a fight over custody.””

I stared at him.

“And you believed her.””

“I was scared.””

“You were scared.””

I repeated the words.

“You were scared, so you let me bury my child.””

His eyes filled with tears.

“I thought I was saving her.””

I shook my head.

“No.””

The room felt colder.

“You were saving yourself.””

He didn’t argue.

Because he knew.

And somehow that made it worse.

My phone rang.

Michael.

I almost ignored it.

But something made me answer.

“Where are you?””

His voice was urgent.

“Simone, you need to leave Daniel’s house.””

I frowned.

“Why?””

“Because someone is watching it.””

I looked toward the window.